Viking Cruises is to restart limited operations in May with three sailings along the coast of England.
New ship Viking Venus will be deployed on the departures from Portsmouth on May 22, 29 and June 5.
All passengers and crew will receive daily non-invasive saliva PCR tests. Additional health checks, sanitisation and physical distancing measures will be introduced.
All other previously scheduled Viking sailings until May 31 remain cancelled.
More details about the new eight-day England’s Scenic Shores itinerary will be released in due course, accordinfg to the line. Pre-registration is open only to loyal past guests.
Viking was the first cruise line to suspend operations at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The official restart was triggered because the UK government recently signalled that it will allow the resumption of domestic cruises from May 17.
Viking chairman Torstein Hagen said: “We welcome the UK government’s support for the return of safe domestic cruises as an important component in the travel industry’s recovery.
“In recognition of this support, and to celebrate the fact we have a British godmother – the esteemed broadcaster and journalist Anne Diamond – we have chosen to name our new ship, Viking Venus, in the UK on 17 May.
“We are in a position to restart operations quickly and to start sailing again in May because we have kept our ships crewed during warm lay-up throughout the past 12 months.
“We have been implementing our additional protocols, including daily quick and easy non-invasive saliva PCR tests for our crew, for almost six months now.
“With our new protocol enhancements in place, we believe there will be no safer way to travel the world than on a Viking voyage and we look forward to welcoming UK guests back on board very soon.”